As most who are familiar with saltwater fishing in this area are aware, September can be a pretty tough month for catching trout. Daylight hours are fewer and the nights are cooler. These two factors result in cooler water temperatures which will change the feeding and schooling patterns of fish in our bay system. Most refer to September as a transition month as it marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall.

The surface water temperature was 86 degrees just last week. This morning when Don Drover, Vic, John and I arrived at our first spot it was 78.8 degrees. This cool-down was also due in part to recent additional rainfall from tropical storm Humberto. Regardless of the exact reason, it causes the fish to scatter somewhat and makes finding and catching more challenging. We had some opportunities early in our trip, but only managed to land two keeper trout. We resorted to working birds for the better part of the rest of the day only to catch undersized schoolies. Most everyone I spoke with had about the same results.

Once we get a cold front or two (hopefully soon) catching fish will become easier as there will be more of a predictable pattern to follow. Until then, we'll just try hard and take the good with the bad.